Forged Iraq art used to fund terrorism: UK police

LONDON: Criminal gangs in Iraq and the Middle East are selling forged art works on auction Web site eBay and in antique markets in Britain to help fund terrorism, British police said on Wednesday.   

The extent of the scam was not clear but the items, purportedly Iraqi or heirlooms from the region, could each sell for up to a couple of thousand pounds (dollars), according to London police's Arts and Antiques Unit.   

"Archaeological stuff is being exported by the ton-load from Middle Eastern countries and (the money) is going back into the Middle East area and some will inevitably end up in the hands of terrorists," Detective Constable Ian Lawson said.   

"We know for a fact there is a terrorism link. There's a trend where items are faked in Iraq and brought into the UK," he said. The goods were then sold to tourists or minor collectors.   

In the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, thousands of treasures were looted from the country and smuggled out to collectors across the world.   

Lawson said criminals had got round subsequent bans on the sale of any item taken out of Iraq after 1990 by labelling artworks as "Mesopotamian".   

Lawson, speaking at an exhibition of faked and forged artwork seized by his London unit, held up as an example a "Mesopotamian" cone supposedly dating from 2,100 to 1,800 BC.   

"We have reason to believe the funds are going back into Iraq possibly to fund terrorism or insurgents there," Lawson said, although he added there had been no prosecutions so far.